Combination of ginsenoside Rg1 and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in the treatment of cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury in rats.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The present study aims to explore the protective role and mechanism of ginsenoside Rg1 combined with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) transplantation for cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury (CIRI) in rat brain. METHODS One hundred twenty male SD rats were randomly divided into a sham group, an Ischemia Reperfusion (IR) group, an IR group treated with BMSC transplantation (IR+BMSCs), an IR group treated with Rg1 (IR+Rg1), and an IR group treated with BMSC transplantation and Rg1 (IR+Rg1+BMSCs). To establish a CIRI model, right middle cerebral artery embolization was used. The neurological score, 2,3,5-triphenyltet-razolium chloride monohydrate (TTC) staining and brain water content were detected to assess the treatment efficiency. HE staining and TUNEL were used to explore the pathologic changes and apoptosis. To explore the protein levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), immunofluoresence was utilized. Western blotting was used to explore apoptosis-related proteins such as Bcl-2 and Bax. RESULTS Compared with the sham group, the IR group demonstrated obvious ischemic changes, such as significant neurologic defects and enhanced brain water content. The Rg1 treatment resulted in an obvious decrease in cell apoptosis and improved ischemic conditions. By BMSC transplantation, the transplanted cells could be differentiated into neurons and glial cells, which also improved cerebral ischemia. More importantly, the IR+Rg1+BMSCs group showed the best treatment efficiency with reduced cell apoptosis and better cerebral recovery. CONCLUSIONS The Rg1 treatment resulted in an obvious decrease in cell apoptosis, while the transplanted cells could be differentiated into neurons and glial cells, which also improved cerebral ischemia.